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Chapter 14
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Motorcycles & Sweetgrass, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cultural Maintenance vs. Loss
Grief and Trauma
Colonialism and Land Use
Stories and Religion
Humor
Summary
Analysis
Maggie waits outside Sammy Aandeg’s house for John, hoping Sammy won’t notice her. Outside the house, she finds an intricate totem pole, reminiscent of West Coast Haida traditions, carved into a telephone pole. John emerges, acknowledges that he carved the totem pole, and invites Maggie inside, reassuring her that Sammy isn’t home. They discuss the new parcel of land, which is near Sammy’s house, and John asks what Maggie would like to do with it. She says she would prefer to leave it in its natural state, and when he agrees, he seems to know too much about the confidential suggestions Maggie has received as chief.
Though John is disguised as a mortal, he isn’t very good at concealing his knowledge, whether that be knowledge of Canada’s First Nations or of the workings of the Otter Lake Reserve. Nevertheless, his charm and connection to Anishnawbe culture encourages Maggie to admit her own preferences for the parcel of land, which she has been trying to ignore in the spirit of professionalism.
Themes
Sammy arrives home and speaks to John in Anishnawbe. Maggie isn’t entirely fluent, but she introduces herself as Lillian’s daughter. Sammy’s bitterness fades slightly and he prepares her a piece of toast as a welcoming gesture. He leaves again, muttering to himself, and Maggie realizes that Sammy speaks Anishnawbe in iambic pentameter. John explains that the residential school teacher who most viciously abused Sammy loved Shakespeare and hated the thought of an “uncivilized” language corrupting his works, so Sammy took to speaking in Shakespeare’s preferred meter to spite the teacher.
Sammy’s entire life has been defined by the trauma he experienced in residential school. His commitment to only speaking Anishnawbe is impressive in the face of colonial efforts to exterminate the language, but it comes from a place of personal trauma and grief more than political activism. Like his decision to speak exclusively in iambic pentameter, Sammy chooses to speak Anishnawbe to spite the racist and abusive institution that ruined his life, but that choice still allows his trauma to define him.
Themes
John invites Maggie for another ride on his motorcycle, and he gives her a helmet that he has decorated with a beaver to pair with his raven. They drive to the beach and have a picnic that John prepared. Maggie can no longer deny that she is actually dating this charming young white man.
John’s choice of a helmet with animal decorations speaks to his connection to the non-human residents of the land, and John giving Maggie her own decorated helmet signals his invitation to her to join his world of wilderness, cultural history, and chaos. She accepts the helmet because she is charmed by John and the alternative way of life he represents.
Themes
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